| Hobie Forums http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/ |
|
| Silence of the Hobies http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=18681 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | arathorn357 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Silence of the Hobies |
Hi - another new AI owner, coming in from a back ground of sea kayaking, where quiet water and little or no wind were much prized for a related passion wild life photography, which pretty much meant using the hours pre dawn to about 10am. Had those conditions early yesterday in less travelled bits of Sydney Harbour so wife and self used the AI's sans sail - used my favourite/best paddle - see http://preview.tinyurl.com/yjwb4y6 This sled paddles well, brace the heels in the indentations provided and the thumb control on the rudder is way more precise than foot rudders I have used. Good, but not near as good as the better 6m+ fibreglass or kevlar kayaks I have used. Then I plugged in the mirage drive - and there is a bit of science and art in getting that to locate correctly grasshopper - I suspect getting it exactly aligned before you drop it into the brackets is the trick. On quiet water you hear (and feel) if the drive is not located correctly. What was a surprise (apart from the power/speed of the thing with turbo fins) is how silent it is - paddling with a blade is quiet, but still a small splash but that drive is silent - if there is a noise from the drive you have got something wrong with the location or your use of the drive. My test of that is moving through water birds nesting - ducks sleep with there heads under their wings and they slept on undisturbed by us - my digital camera makes more noise than the hobie - fish jumped untroubled by my moving nearby. If your a wildlife person or need not to disturb the fish that drive is amazing - and on quiet water it was 2 to 3 kph faster then I can do with my fastest former kevlar kayak with my favourite paddle as above, and I suspect I could sustain that speed differential for much longer given the relative strength of the different muscle groups used. I appreciate there is a whole other world of sailing but that's new territory for me - [er, what are all these ropes on deck for?] but that's for that part of the day I never used much when the wind comes up. Point is, an AI in A mode with a mirage drive is a better solution for a quiet water paddler - I sold my 5.8m sea kayak and bought an AI for the wife (which she likes a whole lot more than the Mirage, for ease of getting into and out of and ease of control). A remarkable craft, even at only 50% capacity. Must try that sail. best, Andrew |
|
| Author: | stringy [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:38 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Silence of the Hobies |
Welcome Andrew!  I'm glad you are enjoying your AI and it's interesting to hear your comments from a sea kayaking perspective. Wow- you've got another AI already!  Congratulations! I wondered how long it would be before your wife insisted on her own! I could tell how much she enjoyed the demo.  Looking forward to pics of your adventures. 
|
|
| Author: | Roadrunner [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 9:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Silence of the Hobies |
Yes, the Adventure under Mirage power has to be one of the stealthiest boats on the water. You can run virtually silently up to about 4 MPH before the rudder begins to make a quiet chortle -- even in light chop the boat moves very quietly. At slower speeds, it is relatively easy to move in close to the wildlife with minimal disturbance.    One of the local juveniles has this annoying habit of sneaking up on unsuspecting paddlers and fishermen in his Adventure, just to see how close he can get undetected. Then he usually bellows out "good morning!" just to see see if they will jump out of their seat.  Disgusting habit -- hope he grows out of it soon! Definitely a quiet boat!
|
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|